Foul!

Going Nuts by Graig Nunis, as published in Mailsport today ONE of American author Irving Washington’s most popular stories is Rip Van  Winkle . The protagonist is a hen-pecked husband who one day wanders into the mountains to go hunting, meets and drinks with the ghost of English explorer Henry Hudson’s crew, and falls into a deep sleep. He wakes up 20 years later to find everything has changed as he had slept through the American Revolution, his village changed so much he hardly recognises it, his wife dead and his children grown up. Washington’s other famous tale is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and both are  included in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent . The most famous character in Sleepy Hollow is the Headless Horseman, a  Hessian Soldier who had his head shot off by a cannonball in an American Revolution battle. Those who subscribe to Astro would probably have watched a retelling of this story. Malaysia Stadium Corporation (M...

As published in Malay Mail today. By Vijhay Vick  vijhayvick@mmail.com.my KUALA LUMPUR — The National Sports Council (NSC) is set to see two new faces within its top leadership while the Malaysia Stadium Corporation (MSC) will see a new chief, reaffirming the Youth and Sports Ministry’s mission to restructure Malaysian sports. Dismayed with the national contingent’s pathetic outing at the Commonwealth and Asian Games this year despite the millions of ringgit spent, the ministry will advertise the position for a new NSC director-general, replacing Datuk Seri Zolkples Embong, and an elite programme director in selected newspapers on Monday. Ariffin Ghani is the acting elite programme director.  The ministry is also on the lookout to replace MSC chief executive officer Ahmad Helmi Harun.  Insiders say Zolkples will head the 2017 SEA Games secretariat. Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, had tweeted yesterday: “There will two major vacancies in ...

As published in Mailsport today. By Vijhay Vick vijhayvick@mmail.com.my PETALING JAYA — Benjamin Franklin once said: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” And the FA of Malaysia (FAM) is certainly preparing to fail by holding the biggest football game in the country at a venue where two other major events are taking place. The Malaysia Cup final, a Sarawakian festival and a religious prayer event all take place in and around the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Saturday. Why did the Malaysia Stadium Corporation (MSC) give the nod to all three events on the same day and are the authorities capable of handling such a turnout? Why didn’t FAM consult MSC before deciding to bring forward the date of the Malaysia Cup final from Nov 8? If FAM had planned its calendar properly, there may not have been a clash with the other events.  FAM did not even consider the Shah Alam Stadium — last year’s final venue — as an alternative at yesterday’s M...